This week is Drowsy Driving Prevention Week. The National Sleep Foundation has created this annual awareness campaign from November 5 to the 12th to increase awareness of the dangers of falling asleep behind the wheel. According to data collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drowsiness has been the culprit behind at least 100,000 crashes and 1,550 deaths in the U.S. every year.
According to the Truck Crash Causation Study (2007) led by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were at least 12,000 commercial truck crashes within a period of three years. 73 percent of these crashes occurred between at least two vehicles, one of which was a truck. These accidents resulted in 249 deaths and 1,654 injuries. Of these trucking related accidents, 13 percent were caused by driver fatigue, in which a total of 18,000 trucks were involved. The percentage of driver-fatigue related accidents is higher than those caused by alcohol use (1%) and fall just under those caused by controlled substance use (17%).…show more content… Hours of Service regulations were put in place in 2011. The regulations outline that truck drivers must not drive more than 70 hours a week. More specifically, drivers of property-carrying vehicles must not exceed 11 hours of driving in a 14-hour period. They must also complete 10 hours of off-duty status before the start of each new shift. Drivers of passenger-carrying vehicles must not drive more than 10 hours in a period, and must take at least 8 consecutive hours off-duty before each new shift. Carriers can be fined at least $11,000 if they are found in excessive violation of the rules by allowing drivers to exceed the limit by more than 3 hours. Drivers can be fined $2,750 for each
